A full account of the words spoken by Rev Jan Gould at Karina Menzies' funeral.

Reading Luke 23:44-47

An account of the death of Jesus on the cross.

It was about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. Having said this he breathed his last.

When the Roman centurion saw what happened, he praised God and said “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”

Address

We all experience times when the electricity suddenly and unexpectedly goes off – whether it’s because of a power cut, or because the meter has run out. Everything stops. The TV goes blank. The radio goes silent. The cooker goes cold. And, worst of all, the lights go out, and we are plunged into darkness. For a while at least we feel lost, helpless, and maybe even frightened. Most likely we are angry too because of the disruption to what we were doing at the time. We want to know why it’s happened, and usually we want to blame somebody.

Tragic death, which is almost always sudden and unexpected as it was for Karina, is like a blackout. One minute the sun is shining. Next minute it’s dark night. Without the slightest warning, or the slightest chance to prepare ourselves, we are plunged into an impenetrable darkness. And in the space of a minute our whole world is turned upside down. There’s nothing that can prepare us for something like this, or that can save us from it’s devastating effects.

Of course we ask “why did it happen”? What was behind such an incomprehensible chain of events that have led us here today? I guess we will never fully know the answer to that question. But there’s one thing I do know. And that is that at a time like this there is only one thing we can do…..Just as when there’s a blackout we rush for a light, any light, even that of a small candle, so now we search for the only light that can penetrate this awful darkness we are feeling as a community united in grief – the light which is the light of Christ.

We heard in the reading just now that as Jesus died on the cross darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed. This means that his friends experienced what we are experiencing. They felt lost and disorientated. Their hopes and dreams crumbled. They didn’t know that the darkness wouldn’t have the last say – they didn’t know that he would rise again and that his light would shine again.

We all know how good it feels when the lights come back on after a power cut. So imagine how those disciples must have felt on that first Easter Day after Christ had risen and they walked once more in his light. It wasn’t quite the old light. It was even brighter. It was the light of their risen Lord, who broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave. And that same risen Lord is with us now. His light shines on all of us who are in darkness and in the shadow of death, the shadow of Karina’s death.

Karina, who was such a fun loving girl all her life, making the most of everything, the girl who loved to party, and who lived for her family. She was the second eldest of six children, and as a child she was intelligent, bright, outgoing, bubbly and funny…..qualities which I’m sure will continue to live on in her 3 precious daughters.

She went to school at Herbert Thompson, Hwll Dda and Glan Ely, and maybe some of you here are old school friends or teachers of Karina’s. If you are you may remember how, throughout her school years, she loved going up to Wally’s Farm to muck out the horses, after which she would get to take them out….she was especially fond of 3 horses – Brambles, Titch and Mustang. The sad thing is it had been her intention to share her passion for the horses with her girls – something she never got round to. But Sam will take over that role, and who knows, Sophie, Ellie and Tiana may find that they love the horses just as much as their mum did.

If you knew Karina even just a little bit you will know how much music ran through every fibre of her soul. You’ll know, too, how much she loved fashion, clothes and make-up. She always managed to make things look fabulous, even on a tight budget – whether that was the house, herself or her children……

It really mattered to her that everything always looked great.

It’s true to say that life wasn’t always easy for Karina – she faced her fair share of challenges in life…..and yet, like a real soldier, she always managed to pick herself up, put the difficult things behind her, and get on with her life. Her love for her children no doubt was a huge inspiration for her in moving forward and getting on with life…because they were her world…….she would do anything for them…….and as we know, she paid the ultimate price to save them 3 weeks ago today. There is no clearer sign of the depth of her love for them than that.